Menu

Lawrence Watt Evans

I didn’t get a lot of reading done over the past couple of weeks, thanks to houseguests and audiobooks.

Brian Staveley’s The Emperor’s Blades

Audiobook, Fantasy

I resisted reading The Emperor’s Blades for the longest time, despite the legions of rave reviews. Why? Because that is a TERRIBLE fantasy title. Blergh. Of course, I read fantasy titles with worse names all the time, so… who knows. Anyhow, I absolutely loved it. It draws much more heavily from Asian history and culture than the usual generic pseudo-European fantasy land, has characters that I actually care about, and is extremely grim without being grimdark. Also, I listened to it on audiobook. That’s the real reason I didn’t get more reading done- I spent about 40 hours over the last couple of weeks listening to The Emperor’s Blades and its sequel, The Providence of Fire. Honestly, that alone puts me at well above average total reading time, especially since most of the rest of the books are Lawrence Watt Evans novels, which don’t take me very long to digest. Anyhow- fantastic book, definitely worth the read. Or listen. Simon Vance does a fantastic job with the performance- one of the best I’ve heard so far, which is admittedly relatively few.

This book is absolutely amazing. Randall Munroe, the creator of XKCD, has really outdone himself here. While some of the questions presented in the book are ones that were already on his blog of the same name, many of them are new ones just for this book. In this book, you can find out: What would happen if the Earth and all terrestrial objects suddenly stopped spinning, but the atmosphere retained its velocity? If my printer could literally print out money, would it have that big an effect on the world? How quickly would the oceans drain if a circular portal 10 meters in radius leading into space were created at the bottom of Challenger Deep, the deepest spot in the ocean? How would the Earth change as the water was being drained? How high can a human throw something? How much physical space does the Internet take up? What would happen if you were to gather a mole (unit of measurement) of moles (the small furry critter) in one place?

Lawrence Watt Evans is a grossly under-appreciated writer. Primarily a fantasy writer, his books usually (though not always) center on average people caught up in situations out of their depth, rather than on the more normal prophesied hero/ heir to the throne/ unstoppable warrior/ powerful wizards so common in fantasy. A Young Man Without Magic follows a young man, Anrel, recently graduated from college in his nation’s capital, who becomes a hunted fugitive when he gives an inflammatory speech following his friend’s death at the hands of a local lord. Following a up and coming demagogue who uses political discourse and public speeches to fight his battles? That’s something I wouldn’t mind seeing more of in fantasy.

Monarchies in fantasy novels are a dime a dozen. They’re everywhere. You’ll sometimes encounter republics, or theocracies, or magocracies described, but usually as background nations- they may interact with the story, but they usually aren’t the main setting. One of the most common plotlines associated with monarchies is that of the usurper- the protagonist, usually the heir to the throne, must reclaim their kingdom from an usurper, who is often related to them. And, frankly, I’m a little tired of it.

Part of the appeal of monarchies in fiction for writers is the ease in which you can anthropomorphize government- The king is the government, at least to the people. You can easily establish protagonists and antagonists through the monarchy (The king is battling greedy nobles, the king is an usurper and must be overthrown, etc, etc.) It’s much harder to do this with many other forms of government. Another part of the appeal is that monarchy is simply the first system most people think of when they think of fantasy. “Oh, there’s swords and such? Must be a monarchy.” Hell, I do it. It also allows for greater focus in the plot if the antagonist is outside society- a dark lord, ravenous hordes, an all consuming plague, giant monsters, etc. With a relatively simple, easily understood governmental system, the plot can slam itself right into the external threat. Simple literary inertia plays a role, too- it’s easier just to keep going with the flow. There’s a reason Tolkeinian Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs are still so prevalent in fantasy- they’re effective tropes that the audience already understands. Same thing with monarchies.

Democratic and popular revolutions aren’t entirely absent in many novels, but they are often sideplots at best. Kristian Britain’s Green Rider series has one, but it is foiled early on in the series by the (benevolent) monarchy, and is entirely absent later.

There are a lot of reasons why monarchies are so prevalent, but what effects do monarchies have in-story? Primarily, they provide a sense of in-universe stability. Society, the kingdom: They are, in some form, immutable, held that way by the kings and queens. Monarchies usually aren’t that stable, but they’re frequently portrayed that way. They’re given millennia-long histories to show that this world is unchanging. There are swords, magic, dragons, you name it, and there always will be, because there is a stable monarchy. They won’t put up with any of this nonsensical societal change, technological development, population growth, or even linguistic drift. Even when an usurper pops up, the heroic heir, once they regain the throne, will just keep things going in the traditional manner, albeit with some tax relief, famine/plague ending, minor civil rights that really don’t amount to much, minor skin disorders cured, and a brand new war against one of their neighbors. Now back to the fields, beloved peasants!

For those of you who would like to read some fantasy that shifts away from the standard monarchic paradigm,, check out Brian McLellan’s Powder Mage series, Lawrence Watt Evans’ Bound Lands Duology (A Young Man Without Magic and Above His Proper Station). The Powder Mage books are a bit more action-packed. They’re about a military coup turned democratic revolution, with gods and magic thrown in. The Bound Lands books are… unique. The main character, rather than being some unstoppable warrior, is an orator. An underground demagogue raising public anger against the magocratic government in a fantasy land. I highly recommend both. Also, there are always the fantastic Discworld novels, by Terry Pratchett, where most of the books take place outside traditional monarchies. (Except for the Lancre books, but the monarcy of Lancre is hardly… the most, well, majestic.)